Followers

Total Pageviews

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Tower of London is usually thought as a place of imprisonment and death but has variously been used as an armoury, royal residence and repository of the Crown's treasure.

This is the layout of The Tower of London. To get here, get off at London Underground Tower Hill Station and follow the marked paths.

The Tower's oldest feature is the central White Tower, built by William the Conqueror. Tower Green is where the executions took place of those traitors lucky enough to be spared the public executions on nearby Tower Hill

Bloody Tower contains the room thought to have seen the murder of the "Prince in the Tower", Edward V and his brother, as well as quarters where Walter Raleigh spent 13 years of captivity writing his "History of the World".

Traitor's Gate is where the prisoners were delivered after been ferried down the River Thames from the court of justice at Westminster.

Here are some of the must see attractions or structures inside the The Tower of London. The Tower of London also had a legend associated with the Ravens. It is believed that should the Ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy would fall. Hence, a small population of the Ravens should always remain.

Once inside, one can explore the complex on your own.

I should have taken one of the photo of Yeoman Warders (often called Beefeaters) rather than this Guard

The White Tower itself hold parts of the Royal Armouries collection

Views from the Tower are dominated by the twin towers of Tower Bridge which was built in 1880s.

The Fusiliers' Museum. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers open their own museum here and separate entrance fee applies to enter this museum.

The Waterloo Barracks contain the Crown Jewels, the majority of which postdate the period of the Commonwealth (1649-1650). Three largest cut of diamonds in the world are on display here, the most famous of them, the Koh-i-Noor is set into a crown made for the Queen Mother in 1937.

Photography is not permitted in the Crown Jewels. Hence, I am unable to show the beauty of the crowns and diamonds here. However, I'm sure the description above will give some idea what are on display here.